Land Desertification: Causes, Effects, And Solutions

Name Course Instructor Date Land Desertification Desertification is regarded as one of the world’s leading environmental and ecological problems. Land desertification entails the process by which land degrades in arid, sub-humid or semi-arid areas ignited by either human activities or natural climatic factors. The process has led to persistent degradation of the fragile ecosystem as well as dry land (Verón, Paruelo and Oesterheld 751). It happens when soil quality reduces, thus, becoming impoverished particularly in arid areas. The process of desertification makes a productive land to be unproductive therefore impacting negatively on the activities of the people. It is a profound problem at the global level since most of the earth’s surface is a desert land. Initially, the land was in the good state supporting the growth of vegetation but later on destroyed due to natural causes or the activities of human beings. Varon et.al shows that the problem is majorly caused by overgrazing globally. Additionally, factors such climate change, urbanization, deforestation, over drafting of groundwater, tillage practices, and natural disasters has contributed to the problem. Desertification is the key root of increased cases of hunger in various regions of the world (Verón, Paruelo and Oesterheld 753). The paper gives an analysis of desertification basing on various elements like the causes, the effects, solutions as well as the reasons as to why it is a global issue. Desertification is regarded to be an ancient problem. Despite the fact that desertification is the profound problem nowadays, it is not a new phenomenon but originated long time ago as human beings started to utilize land for cultivation and to keep livestock. According to Plato, the vanishing of the fertile land originated in ancient times. For instance, Geert et. al shows that the current problem of desertification in Argentina is said to have originated from the considerate degradation of the land at the times of the Spanish conquest. It is during these moments that Great Britain and France launched a joint forestry commission that kept on reminding the colonial administration to prioritize the management of the natural resources as a way of timely curbing of the issue. In the 20th century, desertification was dominant in West Africa of which the problem still persists especially in Senegal and the Southern part of Niger. As early as the 1920s, the scientists, geographers, and cultural anthropologists were evidently concerned about the problem of desertification (Geert, John and Ann 1784). This clearly indicates that the problem has existed for a long period of time, therefore, needs to change in tactics of curbing the problem. In semi-arid areas, desertification process happens in the instances where the amount of rain received is less than 600mm and such regions mostly border arid areas. Veron et.al reveals that in 2500 B.C Saharan land was fertile with a capacity to produce foods but gradually dried to become a desert land which spread proportionally. The increased cases of desertification are expected advance due to global warming that has been predicted to cause over 17% of new land to become a desert within a century. This simply tells that if desertification is not addressed seriously as a global problem, many will continue being subjected to risk of hunger and other serious problems brought about by desertification (Verón, Paruelo and Oesterheld 754). United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) report revealed that more than one-third of the land covering the earth’s surface is threatened by land desertification (translating to 41% of the land with 34% of the earth’s population). The report further elaborates that over 100 countries globally have been affected directly by the desertification. In Africa, the situation is the worst as 66% of the land is deserted. Therefore, there is need to employ various approaches such as irrigation, controlled grazing, afforestation and reforestation to ensure that the desertification is reduced. Various regions of the world are prone to the problem, for instance, southwestern Argentina, northeastern Brazil, sub-Himalaya India, Zimbabwe, Zambia, the southern Sahel and the eastern China (Verón, Paruelo and Oesterheld 753). Desertification is considered as a global problem. Some parts of the world have good climatic conditions, with moderate temperature and reliable rainfall supporting the growth of vegetation and human activities. However, other regions of the world are worse; hence many people are at risk. Verón et.al reveals that over 250 million people are affected directly by desertification whereas approximately one billion people from various parts of the world are at risk. Efforts have been made on combatting the problem without success due to the fact that desertification is said to have been caused by various elements that are so complicated hence difficult to control. Majority of people especially in the developing countries are poor, poverty is ignited by desertification while desertification is worsened by poverty (Verón, Paruelo and Oesterheld 756). Desertification as a global problem has affected over a third of the earth’s surface. In addition, over six million hectares of land since the 1990s has degraded. There has been a reduction of the world’s drinking water supplies by more than half. Geert et.al further show that over 135 million people globally have been rendered homeless due to desertification. Also, 42 billion dollars are utilized annually in the efforts of controlling desertification. Moreover, every year 12 million hectares of the land is lost due to desertification, a land that could have otherwise been used to harvest millions of tons of produce saving the lives of many. The arable land lost has been estimated to be 30 to 35 times of the historic rate. In the US, over 40% of the land is a desert. This problem is caused by overgrazing of livestock and poor designing of the methods used in irrigation parti...